Twice a year, on July 2 and August 16, the city of Siena transforms its main medieval square into an arena of unbridled fury. Ten bareback horses and their respective jockeys race three laps at breakneck speed around a dirt-covered piazza that is filled with fifty-thousand people! That is the Palio, and for the past seven centuries winning it has been the most important objective of every Sienese citizen.

Venice was the longest lasting Republic in history. The city’s privileged position as cultural and economic bridge between the Eastern and Western Christian worlds contributed to its uniqueness. The art and architecture of Venice clearly displays a combination of Islamic, Byzantine, and classical influences. Artists such as Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, and Tintoretto made Venetian painting perhaps the only school to rival that of the central Italian Renaissance. This travel program will not only examine the art and architecture of Venice, but also the history, culinary and enological traditions of perhaps the most singular city in the world.

Sicily truly does have something to offer to everyone. Whether it’s natural beauty, archaeology, medieval, Renaissance or Baroque art and architecture, theater, opera, food, or wine, you will find it all at an exceptionally high level on this magical island.

The Thanksgiving-holiday week is a great opportunity to visit Florence!!! It provides the perfect vacation window for family members of all ages.

This week-long program in Italy will examine the Renaissance art and architecture of Northern Italy. Although Florence and Rome are usually considered to be the centers of Renaissance art, many cities north of the Apennines were also centers of extraordinary artistic production. Many believe that this was the result of an artistic “contamination,” as many of Florence’s greatest artists, such as Giotto, Donatello, Alberti, and Leonardo da Vinci, traveled to northern cities, exposing them to the ideas and movements of the Renaissance.

Twice a year, on July 2 and August 16, the city of Siena transforms its main medieval square into an arena of unbridled fury. Ten bareback horses and their respective jockeys race three laps at breakneck speed around a dirt-covered piazza that is filled with fifty-thousand people! That is the Palio, and for the past seven centuries winning it has been the most important objective of every Sienese citizen.

Sicily truly does have something to offer to everyone. Whether it’s natural beauty, archaeology, medieval, Renaissance or Baroque art and architecture, theater, opera, food, or wine, you will find it all at an exceptionally high level on this magical island.

Sicily truly does have something to offer to everyone. Whether it’s natural beauty, archaeology, medieval, Renaissance or Baroque art and architecture, theater, opera, food, or wine, you will find it all at an exceptionally high level on this magical island.

The Thanksgiving-holiday week is a great opportunity to visit Rome!!! It provides the perfect vacation window for family members of all ages.